How to choose Your Wedding Photographer.

Mar 22, 2019 | By: Melissa

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Decisions. If you're anything like me well, making a decision is not your forte. Recently I was on the phone with Thomas, and I sat there "uhhhhhhhhh", over a decision on whether or not I wanted him to pick me up a soda on his way home. Lawd help me! So when it comes to making big decisions, a decision like how to choose a wedding photographer, who provides one of the only tangible things you walk away with, where do you begin?

I'm going to give you three simple ways to get you on the right path. But, first! Identify what is important to you. How do you do this? Well lemme 'splain it to you Lucy. First ask yourself, how do I want to remember my wedding day? Posed images? The story of the day? The candid emotion? Identify what YOU want and make a list of your top 5 most important qualities.

Example:

raw candid emotion

focus on bride/groom

focus on close family

artistic

capture the romance

So, once you've figured out yours, use the three tips below to get you on your path.

1) Style. THIS IS WHERE YOU START. As a creative, we have our own visions. I personally have a photojournalistic, romantic, soft style. I will give direction so that it looks aesthetically pleasing, but I let things unfold naturally. That's my style as a photographer, I understand my look is not for everyone, as a person we have our own likes and dislikes. So the first thing you want to take into consideration is the LOOK of the photos. There are tons of different looks and factors that make them up, but I'm just going to break in to two groups. With your list in mind, ask yourself do you like what you are seeing based on these factors:

Content.Look at what the photographer is showing. Are people laughing? Are they posed? Are they candid? Are they romantic? Are they serious? Are they high fashion like? Are they focused on emotion and connection? Are they photographing all parts of your wedding day experience? Are they telling a story? Are they capturing posed images? Etc.

The 'Look'. With every photographer's learning process, it takes time to train our eye. But you don't have to have a trained eye to recognize bright/airy/soft vs. dark/moody/contrast. There are manydifferent looks a photographer can shoot for, but these are typically the two main categories we tend to classify ourselves in. So look and ask yourself 'What images am I drawn to? What images am I pinning? What images are eye catching to me? What images do I think are absolutely gorgeous?' Evaluate them with those two categories in mind and see which one has a stronger pull to you.

2)Personality. So once you have the style you like and are drawn to, reach out to some photographers and chat with them. Your connection, or lack thereof will help you make a decision that is right for you. Your photographer will be working closely with you the day of your wedding. You don't want them to take away from the experience, but add to it. Do you feel comfortable with them? Do you vibe well? Will you be ok with them sticking around you the whole day? This is also a good qualifier if you're having a hard time choosing between multiple photographers you admire just based on style.

3) Do you LOVE it?Do not settle. Look my friends, I'm going to say this loud so the people in the back can hear: YOUR WEDDING PHOTOS ARE THE ONLY TANGIBLE THING YOU WALK AWAY WITH. If you choose to have a videographer, then yes obviously you have one more tangible piece of 'evidence' from the day. But after all your hard work of planning for over a year, stressing over every detail to make sure it is ABSOLUTELY perfect, don't you want to remember that perfection in the most beautiful way you've ever seen? Don't settle.

So there you have it ladies & gents. It's very simple, but so important!